UK 4G network trial to begin in Cornwall

The 4G LTE network trial will take place in 25km² of countryside near Newquay.

Mobile network Everything Everywhere (AKA Orange & T-mobile) and BT have announced a joint live trial of the first public 4G LTE network in the UK, which will take place in rural Cornwall from September to December this year.

Despite 4G networks becoming increasingly common in the US, Europe has been slower to adopt the new mobile standard, which is the successor to current 3G networks. The 4G LTE technology on trial could theoretically provide upload and download speeds of 50Mb/sec and 100Mb/sec respectively, although in reality speeds are likely to be much more conservative.

The trial will take place in 25km² of countryside near Newquay, covering roughly 700 houses that currently have limited or no access to current broadband services. With the involvement of Everything Everywhere, 4G mobile devices will also be used to test the new network.

The trial pre-empts the possible auctioning off of the 4G spectrum by Ofcom next year, and will use two 10MHz bands of the 800MHz band freed up by the UK's move from analogue to digital television services.

Those who live in the area of St Newlyn East can apply for a place in the trial here.

Excited that 4G is finally getting off the ground in the UK, or is it another sign of Europe's slowness when adopting new standards and technologies? Let us know in the forums.

Originally Posted by warejon9Weren't we ahead of mobile adoption standards at one point? When i was in the US about 4 years ago they were saying how much further ahead we were with 3G.

Hopefully it'll work out, and they'll be able to get these speeds to places that don't currently have cable.

Smaller country and companies like 3 where built around 3G which sped up adoption and coverage. Tho Looking at 3G non of the companies have great 3G coverage. The next biggest concern will be pricing, will companies charge an arm and a leg for theroetical speeds of a swamped network just because its suppose to be faster?
Also can someone fill me in, is LTE the true 4G or an evolution of 3G thats been rebadged 4G?

Originally Posted by warejon9Weren't we ahead of mobile adoption standards at one point? When i was in the US about 4 years ago they were saying how much further ahead we were with 3G.

Might have something to do with the £22.5 BILLION pounds the UK government took from the operators for the 3G licences in the great 3G auction. If the operators paid that much money for the licences then:

A - That's £22.5b they haven't got to invest in the infrastructure for their new licences.
and
B - They'll be in no hurry to adopt a newer system and leave behind one which cost them £22.5b, not until they've completely milked it dry of every single penny they can get first.

Still, at least the government did something useful and forward-thinking with the huge and totally unexpected windfall, like re-investing it in technology such as rolling out fibre to the entire country. Oh, right...

Originally Posted by SMIFFYDUDEDoes anyone even live in this area? I though it was all bought up by people who live in London and visit 1 week of the year.

Yep, though I'm in the St.Ives Bay area. EDGE is okay at home and closer to Truro, but there's absolutely no signal at work in St.Ives.

As for traditional broadband. Basically, if you're close to the exchanges towns like St.Ives and Hayle you can expect around 6mbps, but the drop off means that a couple of miles out of town and you're lucky to get anywhere near 1mbps.

I haven't got a phone line yet (just moved in) but I know the people down stairs struggle to loads web pages.

At the end of the day all you need to know about British internet service providers is that they will provide the absolute minimum level of service for the absolute maximum cost they can get away with.

Originally Posted by javamanAlso can someone fill me in, is LTE the true 4G or an evolution of 3G thats been rebadged 4G?

I'm pretty sure LTE is full-fat, not the 3.9G rebadged stuff. The theoretical speeds also point towards that idea. Could be wrong though, there's a hell of a lot of rubbish termanology spewed from the US telecomms marketing divisions.

@edit: Dug this out. Basic LTE and WiMAX are pretty much just 3.5G, which apparently a lot of companies in the States are now throwing under the 4G banner. The proposed trial must be LTE Advanced, given the speeds.

Cheers TWeaK, The whole HSDPA, 3G, LTE WiMAX technical stuff is above me atm. I'm gonna do some homework on these terms and what network uses what and why. I do wonder tho if mobile broadband is a cheaper and faster way for the government to reach its target for nationwide coverage and speed. the upgrade is kinda needed, phone technology is advancing so quickly that a new processor and ram every year in a phone isn't enough to make everyone jump. Look at the ZTE Blad/Orange san francisco. its under £100 and is almost as full featured as some of the top end phones that are £400. The Atrix here looks a poorer investment cause it lacks 4G. Yes these pones are attractive and do carry a price for being the fastest but networks relay on ARM and android to keep driving handsets forward.

Originally Posted by javamanAlso can someone fill me in, is LTE the true 4G or an evolution of 3G thats been rebadged 4G?

I'm pretty sure LTE is full-fat, not the 3.9G rebadged stuff. The theoretical speeds also point towards that idea. Could be wrong though, there's a hell of a lot of rubbish termanology spewed from the US telecomms marketing divisions.

@edit: Dug this out. Basic LTE and WiMAX are pretty much just 3.5G, which apparently a lot of companies in the States are now throwing under the 4G banner. The proposed trial must be LTE Advanced, given the speeds.

It is LTE Advanced which is still not 4G. Some call it 3.9G. This is still a massive jump forward and considering the poor 3G and broadband coverage that exists down there nobody is going to care. I have a house in illogan and my broadband there gets 300k download speed.